Goose Island Cooper Project

What's Claybourne?

 

That's also not the GI that post referred to; the taproom is on Fulton.

Clybourn/Claybourne/Clybourne/Klaiborn is closed until probably the summer for remodeling.

 

If there is one thing I am confident in, they will get the flavor profile they want on these beers. Their barrel aging site is impressive.

Now if we start talking sanitation, then we might have some concerns.

 

Yeah, I knew all of that - there was never any reason to mention Clybourn since it was the GI taproom's tweet, and so the mis-spelling of Clybourn (I really don't get why people have such a hard time with that word) just pushed me over the edge. I'm just a grumpy old man sometimes when it comes to people mis-spelling things.

 

Sorry, I just quoted you to add-on to your joke.

 

Was able to try "Wills Revenge" in the taproom this last weekend, and the staff member said it's basically the beer that will be the Scotch ale for cooper project. It was OK. I liked it but it definitely was late on the barrel flavor, while also somehow at the same time. 4 months just isn't long enough

 

I wanted to try it, but didn't get around to it. I had also thought 4 months didn't seem long enough, at least for my tastes. But, that also made me think about BA Darkness only being in barrels for 3 months, and people will go crazy for that....obviously that's a stout, which has a much bigger wow/whale factor than a Scotch Ale, but I still find it interesting.

 

3 months?!? That's incredibly disappointing (just checked Surly's site for verification). Stone is proof to me that while you can make a very tasty BA beer after only a few months, the beers are almost always served best by more time in barrels. In my experience almost every stout benefits from at least in the realm of a year in bourbon barrels (can't speak to non-stouts since I don't drink nearly as many that are barrel-aged).

 

Yeah, I didn't realize the 3 months thing until I was scoping out their announcement last week, and wondered if everyone realized that. I'm with you...more time in barrels is better. I honestly wish there was some sort of guideline that stated how long a beer has to be in barrels to be called a BA beer, but that'll never happen.

 

The pour of BA Darkness I had wad phenom for what it's worth

 

I'd be curious to know some of the beers that are aged for 3 months in barrels that you enjoyed. Not saying you're wrong, just curious to know if I've had the wrong ones. I will always lean towards more barrel time, but that can certainly just be a personal preference. That doesn't mean all beers with more barrel time are great...like you said, that can result in the barrel flavor just masking flavors or covering up lack of flavor.

 

All of Odd Side's BA beers spend a small amount of time in barrels from what I understand. Most of them are tastey (at least when fresh).

 

I h8 Dragons Milk, sadly (although I'm sure the variants are better). The Stone stuff I've had benefits from some added complexity, but a shorter time in barrels usually = less complexity and less viscosity (in my experience). I'm just saying that regardless of how BA Darkness tastes now (I'm gonna try to find out today), I would bet it would be better after a total of 8-12 months.

Also, I can understand lower month counts on non-stouts, since you don't always want an overpowering barrel character for some sorts of beers (perhaps like GI's Cooper Project beers).

 

I agree they're tasty (when not having other issues), but I don't get much barrel flavor from them, which is why I don't get too excited over them, except for maybe Rye Hipster. I think there probably isn't that much difference between a non-BA version and a regular BA version of them (at least to my palate), but not sure I've been able to try for comparison (except for maybe Mayan Mocha, which I don't care for either version of, due to the heat from the peppers).

Apologies for the thread drift....

 

Not sure how I never heard that this happened. Luckily I was out of town, or else I'd be kicking myself that I missed it.

 

While I can't get into Dragon's Milk, I understand the appeal. Likewise, I get why people don't like the Stone BA stuff; typically (for something like Xocoveza, for example) barrel-aging dulls the stuff I don't like (mostly pepper heat), which I why I really go for it. However, just on a price perspective I totally get the objection.